Portable ambulatory medical devices have proved useful for treating patients with medical conditions that require continuous monitoring and/or treatment. One example of such a portable ambulatory medical device is a device that involves the delivery of fluids. There are many applications in academic, industrial, and medical fields, as well as others, that involve devices capable of accurately and controllably delivering fluids, including liquids and gases, that have a beneficial effect when administered in known and controlled quantities. This is particularly true in the medical field, where treatments for many of patients include the administration of a known amount of a substance at predetermined intervals. For example, the treatment of diabetes involves just such a regimented dosage of medicaments such as insulin. In addition, diabetes is one of a few medical indications wherein patients routinely administer the medicament to themselves by a subcutaneous modality, such as a hypodermic syringe injection or by an ambulatory infusion pump. As such, providing a patient with the means to safely, reliably, and comfortably administer required doses of medication such as, e.g., insulin, may be particularly important in order to facilitate patient compliance and accurate treatment of the condition.
Ambulatory insulin infusion pumps have been developed for the administration of insulin for those diagnosed with both type I and type II diabetes. Ambulatory insulin pumps are medical infusion devices used for the administration of insulin in the treatment of diabetes, and offer an alternative to multiple daily injections of insulin by an insulin syringe or an insulin pen. They also allow for continuous insulin therapy. In addition, some ambulatory insulin infusion devices can include data collection and storage mechanisms, which allow a diabetic person and/or a doctor to easily monitor and adjust insulin intake. The infusion device may be powered by a rechargeable battery that requires periodic recharging.
Some ambulatory medical devices include a touchscreen on which symbols may be displayed and from which inputs may be received for operation of the device. Other input mechanisms involve keyboards or hardware switches. In general, a series of display screens or windows are shown on a device display or on the device touchscreen, showing alphanumeric text and symbols, and providing menu screens through which the user can control operation of the device. User interaction, such as by touching the alphanumeric text and symbols, provides user input and facilitates navigation through the menu screens and selection of the device functions.
The phenomenon of unintended, inadvertent activation of portable devices is not an uncommon occurrence. Telephone calls accidentally placed via a mobile telephone through inadvertent activation have become a fact of modern life. Such accidental calls can be annoying and troublesome for a mobile telephone. In the case of a portable ambulatory medical device, such accidental activation can have serious consequences. In fact, in the case of portable ambulatory medical devices, any changes at all that are unintended or inadvertent may be problematic and even dangerous. For example, an untimely delivery of insulin, or delivery of an unexpectedly changed amount of insulin, or the absence of an expected dose, can have extremely deleterious results, and may even be dangerous to the user. User safety would be improved with a reduction in the likelihood of an accidental or unintended activation or deactivation of a portable ambulatory medical device.